The City of Oakdale has denied an Oakdale Leader Public Information Act request filed on May 10 seeking a city paid report regarding a possible conflict of interest investigation into named city officials last year.

Tens of thousands of chocolate lovers came out for this year's Oakdale Chocolate Festival over the weekend with Mother Nature especially cooperative, bringing sunny skies with temperatures in the mid to upper-80s and a slight breeze to keep everyone comfortable.

The Oakdale City Council came to a stalemate during a recent special meeting for the appointment to fill the position left vacant by Jason Howard, who resigned in April. Without a selection by mid-June the matter goes to the voters in a special election in November.

With several items listed on Monday's Oakdale City Council agenda, two items – the city audit results and a proposed cell phone tower – sparked the most discussion between the public, city officials, and contracted commercial representatives.

Over 275 women, some donning chapeaus, gathered at The Reata in Oakdale on Friday, May 18 for the fourth annual Wine, Women and Chocolate Extravaganza benefitting the Oak Valley Hospital Foundation. Proceeds from this year's event went toward women's wellness and the Center for Human Services.

The Oakdale City Council announced that former Atwater Assistant City Manager Stan Feathers will take over as the part-time interim city manager on July 1when current Interim City Manager Greg Wellman is required to leave the post.

Articles By Author - Richard Paloma

With California in its third drought year, the Oakdale Chamber of Commerce's 42nd Annual Ag Scholarship Luncheon on March 19 brought in known attorney, Valerie Kinkaid, to discuss its chosen topic, "Three Major Threats to Water Rights."

With the recent shoot-down of "Pioneer Perfect," the Oakdale Tourism and Visitor's Bureau decided to finally "embrace" "Cowboy Capital of the World" as it continues its mission to develop and promote tourism for the City of Oakdale.

With the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation planning to release significant water flows down the Stanislaus River during a time of continued drought in the area, the City of Oakdale took a stand and opposed the agency's planned actions, expressing serious concerns with its 2015 Drought Contingency Plan.

The glass appears to be half full as the Oakdale High School Aca Dec Team now heads to the state championships. As a result of winning the 35th Annual Stanislaus County Academic Decathlon, the team will represent Stanislaus County at the state level. The event will be hosted in Sacramento March 19 through 22.

Wearing a cowboy hat to reinforce his point, Oakdale City Manager Bryan Whitemyer pioneered the Monday, March 16 Oakdale City Council meeting, telling everyone that at no time the city was ever considering changing its 'Cowboy Capital' motto (see related story on this page).

City of Oakdale residents have long felt recognition and pride with the city's motto of "Cowboy Capital of the World" but when the Oakdale Travel and Visitors Bureau introduced a marketing slogan of "Pioneer Perfect," many residents expressed outrage, calling for the city and OTVB not to meddle with something already in place.

With so many quality police shows, dramas, premium channel series, and sports to watch on TV, one of my guilty pleasures of television watching these days is a couple of reality TV shows where I just get to disengage my thinking brain and get to become more of a sarcastic, judging, critical SOB than I already am.

Following an afternoon press release by the City of Oakdale stating it had been "rumored" that the city was considering changing its slogan and had no intentions of doing so, the Oakdale Tourism and Visitors Bureau sent out its own Friday night statement that it would forego the launch of "Pioneer Perfect" and embrace the city's original motto "Cowboy Capital of the World."

City of Oakdale residents have long felt recognition and pride with the city's motto of "Cowboy Capital of the World" but when the Oakdale Travel and Visitors Bureau introduced a marketing slogan of "Pioneer Perfect," many residents expressed outrage, calling for the city and OTVB not to meddle with something already in place.

As Oakdale city leaders proposed annexing a portion of Crane Crossing and expanding its sphere of influence, some property owners spoke out causing the Oakdale City Council to delay the item until more information could be heard.

An Oakdale man was arrested by Tuolumne County Sheriff's detectives at his Hampton Court residence on Feb. 2 for several sex crimes, according to a March 2 press release issued from the Tuolumne County Sheriff's Department.